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Friday, 28 November 2014

When I set up my “Dawlish Chronicles” website, www.dawlishchronicles.com, some two years ago I included a section called
“Steam, Steel and Strife”, which can be accessed via the “Conflict” button on the
home-page. In this section I intended to
post articles related to naval history which were directly germane to the Dawlish
Chronicles novels themselves. As time went on however, and as my researches continued,
I found it regrettable that not all that I came across could be directly or indirectly
used in my novels. It seemed a pity to let this information go to waste, the
more so since it was likely to be of interest to a large number of naval and history enthusiasts.

From this was born
the blog you are now reading, on which I have been publishing articles on a
weekly basis, or sometimes more often. These cover a very wide range of events,
personalities and technology related to naval history in the mid-18 th to early-20th Century period. The majority of these articles have been transferred to my website’s “Conflict” section. At present there are over 50 such articles and more are added on a regular basis. The listing did however leave something to be desired, making it difficult to access articles as they were not classified by era, or in chronological order of occurrence. A “clean up” of the listing was obviously required.

I have now accordingly reorganised the listing. The “Conflict”
page (click here to access) now represents a portal to listings of articles in
three historical periods and sequence. These are:

The Age of Fighting
Sail

The articles under this heading relate to naval and other
history between 1700 and the early 1830s.
In this period sailing warships reached their zenith of perfection and
the professionalism of naval officers and men was to be a determining factor in
the fate of empires. Articles include accounts of battles, of shipwrecks and
survivals and of unusual aspects of naval-related life.

The Victorian Era

This is the largest section. The period covered is from 1837
to 1901 and it was characterised by great political change, scientific
discovery and technological innovation. As it started steam was still a novelty
at sea and the Royal Navy was commanded by veterans of the Napoleonic Wars.
When it ended, steam propulsion, steel construction, electricity, and the
deployment of armour, torpedoes and huge
guns had resulted in ships which in many cases would live on to fight in World
War 1. Articles cover topics as diverse as battles, biographies of leading
figures, maritime disasters, weaponry, Arctic exploration and much else. It is
the world in which Nicholas Dawlish makes his career.

The 20th Century

These articles are mainly related to the early decades of
the 20th Century. Topics include the rise of the Imperial German Navy, conflict
between Russia and Japan, the Balkan Wars and World War 1 itself, when naval
warfare was to develop in ways not previously envisaged or possible. There was
still a surprising role for sailing craft (in destroying U-Boats!) but aircraft
had also arrived on the scene, playing an unexpected role following a mutiny on
a Dutch warship.

Examples

The range of topic is huge and varied and out of over 50 articles
I chosen some examples at random – I hope they’ll encourage you to explore
further!

Single ship actions, usually between frigates, are
remembered as some of the most dramatic actions of the age of fighting sail and
they figure as central elements in the naval fiction of Forrester, Pope,
O’Brian and others. Perhaps the most dramatic of all single-frigate action was
fought not during the Revolutionary or Napoleonic Wars, but when French was
locked in conflict with Britain during the American War of Independence. ..

Lonely Lives and
Deaths – French Napoleonic Prisoners of War in Britain 1793-1815

The plight of prisoners of war during the period of the
Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was particularly poignant. Over 100,000 of
them were brought to Britain during the wars with France that raged from 1793
to 1815, with only a one-year break in 1802/03.The article tells how many ended
up in a small Hampshire town and about the legacy they left behind

HMS Indefatigable vs. Droits de l’Homme 1797

The Royal Navy of the Victorian era was dominated by
memories of what had been achieved in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and
indeed up to the mid-19th Century the navy was still commanded by officers who
had seen service in their youths under commanders such as Nelson. This article
describes one of the most ferocious actions of those years.

The End of Fighting
Sail – Sidon, Beirut and Acre 1840

Though steam propulsion was first applied to warships, on a
small scale, in the late 1830s, it was to take another half-century before sail
was finally abandoned by the world’s navies. 1840 was however to see the last
major action by the Royal Navy in which a sailing wooden line-of-battle ship,
of a type almost identical to those which fought under Nelson at Trafalgar in
1805, was to play the leading role.

Britain and France
confront Argentina: The Battle of Obligdo 1845

Today, when one thinks of naval combat between British and
Argentinian forces the Falklands War of 1982 is the case most likely to come to
mind. An equally fierce engagement did however occur 137 years earlier and,
though it is largely forgotten in Britain today, is commemorated annually in
Argentina by a national holiday on each 20th November.

Mallet's Monster
Mortar and the Birth of Seismology 1854/56

The need for massive weapons for breaching fixed land
defences was dramatically illustrated during the Crimean War's Siege of
Sevastopol in 1854/56. One response, by a forgotten Victorian genius, was the
creation of the largest weapon constructed up to that time. Two examples remain
and visiting one of them impelled me to write this piece. But there was more to
the story than weapony alone, for the engineer responsible was to found the
science of Seismology and to prefigure weapons used with devastating effect in
WW2.

Coast Defence Ships -
Big Bangs in Small Packets 1870-1951

For some eighty years from 1870 small, slow, powerfully
armed and heavily armoured "Coast Defence" ships represented the
backbone of many small navies, and even found limited use in much larger ones.
This long article describes this now
largely-forgotten type of warship and the dramatic fates of some of them.

An obscure single ship action off the coast of South
America, though inconclusive, was of enormous significance for future naval
warfare. It involved a British cruiser, HMS Shah,
and the Huascar, a rebel Peruvian
ironclad which still exists today, though in another navy.

The ramming of SMS Grosser Kurfürst 1878

For more than four decades from the mid-1860s almost all
warships were built with bows designed for use of ramming as an offensive
tactic. In practice the ram proved to be more of a hazard to friends than to
enemies, and there were numerous cases of serious damage being inflicted,
sometimes fatally, in collisions. One such incident occurred in sight of the
English shore in 1878, resulting in sinking of the newly completed German
ironclad Grosser Kurfürst with the loss of some 270 lives.

The wreck of HMS Wasp in 1884

Though it is likely that many in her crew disliked the task
assigned them it is fair to say that the mission on which HMS Wasp was engaged at the time of her loss
was one of the most inglorious ever undertaken by the Royal Navy.

Pride, Folly and
Superb Seamanship - HMS Calliope at
Apia 1889

The unlikely location of Samoa saw a confrontation between
American and German naval forces in 1889, with a Royal Navy warship as neutral
observer. This stand-off had the potential to launch a shooting war which would
have had immense impact on subsequent world history. But then a hitherto
unexpected player, Mother Nature herself, dealt the deciding hand...

The varied career of
the Dutch protected cruiser Gelderland
1898-1944

In 1900 a young queen sent a cruiser to rescue a fugitive
South African president. The vessel involved, the Gelderland, was to have a
very varied career thereafter, culminating in a battle off Finland against the
Soviets in 1944. It's quite an amazing story...

A sea battle you've
never heard of: Elli 1912

... and it was in a war that's been largely forgotten. But
the clash of the Greek and Ottoman Turkish navies at the Battle of Elli in
1912, and the savagery of the two Balkan Wars of 1912-13, were to give a
foretaste of what was going to happen on a much larger scale a year later. A
notable aspect of the battle is that it mixed outdated relics of the ironclad
age with ultra-modern vessels, some of which were to go on to play active roles
in both World Wars.

World War 1 in the
North Sea: Sailing Craft versus the U-Boats

Though the “Age of Fighting Sail” ended around 1840 as
regards major warships, small sailing craft were to play a very important role
in World War 1 in Britain’s battle against Germany’s U-Boats. And some of the
sailing craft were very small indeed and operating them demanded courage of the
highest order.

The Mutiny on De Zeven Provincien - and its dramatic
ending 1933

This event merits coverage since it is little known of
outside the Netherlands and because its significance goes far beyond its
immediate circumstances. The mutiny was to be terminated in a most unexpected
way, by the aggressive deployment of air power at sea for the first time since
the Great War.

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

“Britannia’s Shark”
is the third of the Dawlish Chronicles novels and is due for publication in
paperback and Kindle formats in early December.

It’s 1881 and a daring
act of piracy draws the ambitious British naval officer, Nicholas Dawlish, into
a deadly maelstrom of intrigue and revolution.
Drawn in too is his wife Florence, for whom the glimpse of a half-forgotten
face evokes memories of earlier tragedy. For both a nightmare lies ahead, amid
the wealth and squalor of America’s Gilded Age and on a fever-ridden island
ruled by savage tyranny. Manipulated ruthlessly from London by the shadowy
Admiral Topcliffe, Nicholas and Florence Dawlish must make some very strange
alliances if they are to survive – and prevail.

You may also recall that last month I invited readers to
guess what the “X” would be in the title “Britannia’s X”.

The only clues I
offered were (a) that the action covers the period April – September1881, (b)
that the adventure (and nightmare!) starts in the Northern Adriatic but shifts
continents thereafter and (c) that Nicholas Dawlish’s intrepid wife, Florence,
plays a key role.

Given this scant information, fans of the Dawlish Chronicles
series responded with some splendid guesses, none of them actually “Shark” however. Here are the best:

Steve Cook:“Britannia’s
Secret”, hinting perhaps at what Florence might be wearing under her
voluminous outer garments. As a gentleman however I could not possibly
speculate about such a delicate subject, much less write about it. Dawlish
would probably horsewhip me.

Robert Field:“Britannia’s
Argosy”, resulting from a really ingenious piece of reasoning. Robert
identified Ragusa as an Adriatic port and “Argosy”
as a Ragusan word. A splendid effort but, unfortunately, incorrect.

Ian Synge:“Britannia’s
Pig”, from another thread of ingenious reasoning. Again starting from the
Adriatic setting, and knowing that there were tensions in this period between
the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia on commercial trade in pigs, resulting
in a tariff confrontation entitled the “Pig War”, Ian had suspicions that
Dawlish might have been sent to represent British economic interests in this
imbroglio. Great idea, but incorrect. Perhaps Lady Agatha’s diplomat brother
Oswald would be better suited to sorting this one out.

Carl Ramsay:“Britannia’s
Victory” – a great title and one to be stored for possible future use.

Shaun White:“Britannia’s
Blockade” – another splendid title that invites a story to support it.

And most
outrageous of all:

Gary Early
deserves to be quoted verbatim, in an answer capable of inspiring Gilbert and Sullivan
to create HMS Pinafore, had they not
already done so:

“It is the Northern Adriatic (for
no obvious reason, but possibly for tax purposes). Nicholas Dawlish is in line
to take command of Her Majesty's latest and greatest warship. So, too, are
several other contenders. There is nothing to separate these men in terms of
maritime competence and martial skill. Thus, in its wisdom, the Admiralty
declares that command will be given to the officer with the best singing voice!

I hope that readers who’ve already met the Dawlish couple
will be glad to make their acquaintance again and join them in a desperate
adventure. In Britannia’s Wolf and Britannia’s Reach daring and initiative have
earned Dawlish the advancement in the Royal Navy which he hungers for. But is the price too high, for himself, for
his principles and for the woman he loves?

Britannia’s Shark
is being published through the Old Salt Press, an association of independent
writers dedicated to publishing the finest in nautical fiction and non-fiction.
I’ve been honoured by being asked to join founder authors Joan Druett, Rick
Spilman, Alaric Bond and V.E. Ulett and hope that my continuing work will live
up to the high standards they have already set.

Friday, 7 November 2014

I was in Singapore last week and on my way from the airport
to the hotel I saw a large banner-like announcement for an exhibition entitled “The
Zhongshan Warship” and its treasures.
I had not previously heard of this vessel but I was very keen to learn more. I
found it of great interest and in this blog I’d like to share something of it.

Poster

The exhibition – which continues in Singapore until April
2015 – is organised by the Zhongshan
Warship Museum of Wuhan, China, and is
held in the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall. This is housed in what was the residence
of one of Singapore’s most successful merchants and philanthropists in the late
19th and early 20th Century. Should you be visiting
Singapore it is well worth visiting this splendid museum even should the Zhongshan exhibition be finished. The museum covers not only the life of Sun Yat
Sen (1866-1925), the revolutionary who brought about the fall of the Manchu
(Qing) Dynasty in 1911 and who created the Chinese Republic that followed, but it
also tells the story of the rise of the great Chinese business empires centred
on Singapore. Sun’s story is dramatic in the extreme and I was not previously
aware just what a large role was played in the revolution by the Overseas
Chinese communities as regards funding and provision of support for political exiles
and activists. The museum is splendidly housed and the organisation and range
of exhibits make it a model of its kind.

The presence of the Zhongshan
exhibition at the museum is explained by the fact that the vessel, named after Sun
Yat Sen (his name in Mandarin being Sun Zhongshan), was strongly associated with
him, as well as with a number of other significant events in the years 1911-1937.

The splendid Sun Yat Sen Nanyang memorial Hall, Singapore

Initially called the Yongfen,
the Zhongshan was one of two gunboats
ordered by the Qing Imperial Government in 1910. They were built at the Mitsubishi
yard at Nagasaki and their specifications were as follow:

The design was well suited to operation either in coastal
waters, or on China’s vast inland river system. By the time the Yongfen and her sister Yonhsiang were delivered the Imperial Government
had fallen. The new republic was to face many challenges, not least an attempt
by in 1915-16 by the first president, Yuan Shih Kai (1859-1916) to proclaim himself
emperor. Sun Yat Sen was a major force in frustrating this attempt. In the “Warlord
Period” which followed, in which central authority was challenged by local
strongmen who controlled vast areas with their private armies, naval units
allied themselves with the “Constitution Protection Movement” which was pledged
to defend the republic.

Sun Yat Sen and his wife, with crew, in 1922, when the Yongfen was his refuge

In 1922 during further internal strife, Sun Yat Sen,
who was still actively attempting to unify the country, escaped danger by
taking refuge on the Yongfen for a
period of 55 days. This included running past the forts on the Pearl River,
close to Guangdong (Canton), which were controlled by the warlord Chen Jiong
Ming (1878-1933) with both Sun, and his protégée Chaiang Kai Shek on board. It
was to commemorate this that the vessel was renamed Zhongshan.

Under its new name the gunboat continued to have an active
career, which included coastal operations against pirates. In 1937 however, when
Japan invaded China (in what was essentially the opening of WW2, though few in the
west wanted to recognise this at the time) she was deployed in the Yangtze
River to oppose the Japanese advance westwards from Shanghai. On October 24th , near Wuhan, she
was attacked and sunk by six Japanese aircraft, the captain and 20 of the crew
being killed.

Hull seen on surface for first tine in almost 60 years

Zhongshan refloated in 1997 - and in remarkably good condition

The wreck was to lie undisturbed until 1996 when it was
resolved to raise and refurbish her as a
memorial to Sun. The hull appears to have been in remarkably good condition and
after an eight-man diving team removed some 1500 tons of silt from her it was
possible to raise her, between two barges, in February 1997. The hull was was winched on to a slipway for work to proceed on her and transported thereafter by means of a floating drydock to the custom-built viewing hall built for her near Wuhan. Final fitting out was done there, where she is now on permanent display.The photographs below give and idea of the very
comprehensive work involved.

Work in progress on slipway

Completely restored hull en-route to the display hall near Wuhan

Zhongshan being moved into display hall

As Zhongshan is currently displayed

The exhibition covers all aspects of the vessel’s history and
operation. There is a splendid 1:50 model and a large display of artefacts recovered
in good condition from the silt, which probably acted as a preservative. Seen together
they present a poignant view of what life would have been on board the Zhongshan as she patrolled the Chinese
coast and penetrated deep into the interior on the country’s massive rivers.

1:50 model on display at exhibition

For me the exhibition proved an unexpected joy. Due to the lighting
however, and the fact that I had only a mobile ‘phone with me, and not a proper camera. The photographs I took of
the model are therefore hazy. I have also taken the liberty of scanning
photographs from the splendid exhibition guide and hope that by doing so I have
not infringed copyright. I trust that my
thanks to the Zhongshan Warship
Museum and to the staff in Singapore, as well as my desire to share the pleasures of the exhibition
with readers who cannot visit it in
reality, may compensate for this.

Wednesday, 5 November 2014

Less than a week ago, on October 31st. I posted a
blog (see below) on the Battle of Coronel, the hundredth anniversary of which
fell on November 1st. In the
five days since then it has proved the most-viewed blog-post I’ve ever written,
with 1206 views so far and still counting.

I’ve been trying to analyse why this is so and I’ve come to the
conclusion that, even after a century, the sense of bereavement is still
powerful. I got this sense from many of the communications I received afterwards,
many by Twitter. These came from the United States and from Germany, as well as
from Britain, and most were from readers whose families had not been affected
directly, but who were still moved by the tragedy and who shared in the feeling of
loss. In the blog I referred to the 1600 British casualties – the entire crews of
two cruisers, HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth. The exact figure was indeed
higher, 1654 in total, and I feel somewhat ashamed that I was not more exact,
for each of those extra 54 men had his own tragedy, a family, ambitions, hopes
for a future that never came.

This was brought home very poignantly by one response-tweet
in particular. In it a correspondent forwarded a photograph of a grandfather who
died on Good Hope, a young man in
uniform radiating pride and confidence, a man one could imagine having have
liked and respected had one encountered him years later. He would have been
about the age of my own grandfather at the time - he could have lived on into the 1970s, could have seen the moon landing on television, could have gloried in his grandchildren. I was moved by awareness of
the brutal cutting off of a life that could have been productive and happy but
even more than this the photograph made the misery of the family left behind almost
palpable. One could visualise the shock of the initial news, the mourning
parents, the bereaved wife and the uncomprehending children, all bewildered not
just by loss but by the future’s uncertainty. In this single case the tragedy seems
immense, multiplied by hundreds it seems almost infinite.

At times one despairs about the future of humanity, about the
greed and cruelty that so often dominate the flow of history. But what stands
in the way of this, what gives us hope, is that so many of us still feel for
each other, whether we know them directly or not, that we feel the loss of lives a century ago as much
as we feel them today. We don’t get it right much of the time – maybe even most
of the time – but as long as we hold on to that high valuation we place on life
we’ll still win through.

About Me

My "Dawlish Chronicles" are set in the late 19th Century and reflect my deep interest in the politics, attitudes and technology of the period. The fifth novel in the series, “Britannia’s Amazon” is now available in both paperback and Kindle formats. It follows the four earlier Dawlish Chronicles, "Britannia's Wolf", "Britannia's Reach”, "Britannia's Shark" and "Britannia's Spartan". Click on the book covers below to learn more or to purchase.
I’ve had an adventurous career in the international energy industry and am proud of having worked in every continent except Antarctica. History is a driving passion in my life and I have travelled widely to visit sites of historical significance, many insights gained in this way being reflected in my writing. I welcome contact on Facebook and via this Blog. My website is www.dawlishchronicles.com and its “Conflict” section has a large number of articles on topics from the mid-18th Century to the early 20th Century.